Tsuki no Go
by Onkoona
Summary: Will they still play Go when the moon is settled in the 22nd century?


_Hikaru no Go and it's characters belong to their makers, I'm just borrowing them for a while._

Tsuki no Go

**Encyclopedia Galactica, 56th edition, 2411.**

_entry:_

Kobayashi Futastu; b: May 5th 2178, New Kyōto, Luna; d: June 6th 2297, New Kyōto, Luna.

Master Go player and Hero of the Lunar Blackout of 2201.

Kobayashi Futastu was one of the first Japanese to have been born on Luna. At that time it was not known that a person, born and raised on the Moon, would not be able to go back down to earth. The special measures to ensure that Moon dwellers could visit and live on Earth were not introduced until after the scientific and medical breakthroughs in 2190. So Kobayashi Futastu was not able to leave the Moon in his lifetime.

Despite this handicap he was accepted as an _insei*1_ at the Go institute of Tōkyō, Terra, at the tender age of 6. He stayed an _insei_, telestudying from the Moon, until the age of 9, even though his teachers said he had been more than ready to take the exam to qualify as a professional Go player. When he finally did take the exam, he passed first try, with all wins.

His career took off from there. Using the latest communication methods he took part in all the title competition he could, winning most of them over a period of 4 years. He consistently held the Hon'inbō title for most of his life, from 2191 through 2297. Whenever he took part in the Meijin Tournament, on average about every third year, he'd win that title too. Due to ill health - a direct consequence of having been born on the Moon - he was forced to forgo many of the other official tournaments. Even so, he held all the obtainable titles at one time in 2199, 2200 and 2205.

His track-record was regretfully marred when he lost a title game, due to the Lunar Blackout of 2201. It is said that Master Kobayashi did not get angry when the game was cut off, rather it gave him the drive to reprogram the Lunar Central Computer in 17 hours, single handedly. The official time for such an endeavor was set at a minimum of 48 hours, using 6 skilled programmers. With this action Master Kobayashi saved the complete inhabitants of New Kyōto, including all neighboring settlements, by restarting the air supply within the allotted maximum of 26 hours, making the Lunar Blackout the only space disaster that had not claimed any lives. The reprogramming was a feat that could not possibly have been accomplished within the allotted time, according to current-day scientists. The Lunar Central Computer complex had only three programmers on hand at the time with enough skills for the tasks (Master Kobayashi's father, Kobayashi Komon, among them). But Master Kobayashi's style of programming was so novel and different from the norm that they were no help to him, and Master Kobayashi ended up doing the work by himself.

Even though Master Kobayashi lost the game - this game became known as "The Interrupted Game" (link to game) - by default, as he hadn't been able to be there to finish it. He was however awarded the Medal of Honor from Emperor Go-Kōmei for his services to his native Luna. The official decoration ceremony was broadcast throughout the entirety of the settled Solar system. As a special tribute, Master Kobayashi received the _Goban*2_ that once belonged to the famous Edo Go Master Shūsaku, which until that time had been housed in the Go Museum in Inoshima, Japan, Terra. This was the most honourable gift of choice, in light of the fact that Master Kobayashi's game style and Master Shūsaku's were reputed to be related. It was a meaningful gesture, since shipping items up to the Moon was under extreme high regulations and enormous costly in those days. Master Kobayashi kindly donated it to the Prefecture of New Kyōto, Luna, in his will. The Goban now sits in the New Kyōto Historical Museum in Section 27 of New Kyōto, Luna, in the Go wing of the museum.

Other events of note during Master Kobayashi's life are the face to face meetings in New Kyōto with his rivals for the Hon′inbō and Mejin titles, Shindō Kōyo (8 times Gosai, 1 time Mejin) and Tōya Keiko (5 times Mejin, 7 times Ju-dan). These games were widely broadcast live, and are to this day a unique and imposing record of these legends of Go. The most famous of which is "The Slow Death Match," in which Master Shindō was beaten so bitterly, he had to leave the game three times to collect himself. (link to game)

He taught a special course "Computing and Go" at the University of New Kyōto in 2217, which together with his book "Theorems on Computer Program Simplification" (2214) is still a much referred to compendium of computing science.

Due to his medical condition Kobayashi never had children, but there are records of a life partner. He lived to be 129, a not uncommon age on the Moon. The cause of death was a massive stroke after the final game of that year's Hon′inbō Tournament. Stroke is still the number two cause of death on the Moon, with accident being number one.

Master Kobayashi was known to have been a very friendly man who was always willing to tutor even the least gifted in the game of Go. From the moment he qualified as a professional player, he consistently lead a beginner's, intermediate, and advanced Go class open to all, until the very day of his death in 2297.

Master Kobayashi is still considered a hero of all Japanese in space, and is venerated as a worthy ancestor by all of Japan to this day.

Glossery:

*1 insei: official student of the game of Go.

*2 Goban: the board Go is played on.

References:

"The History of the Moon" Reigen Yuki, Luna Press, Luna, 2355. (Chapter 7)

"Kobayashi Futastu: The Grand Master of Go" Momozono Kenshin, Go-institute Press, Tōkyō, Japan, Terra, 2288

"Theorems on Computer Program Simplification" Kobayashi Futastu, Harvard Pres, New York, Grand Coalition of the Americas, Terra, 2214

"The Kobayashi Lectures" collected and transcribed by Ashiwara Seji, University of New Kyōto, Luna, 2218

"Shindō Kōyo: The Bad Boy of Go" Sukō Sho, Too True Press, Nagoya, Japan, Terra, 2267 (pages 127-206)

"Tōya Keiko: The Lady Meijin" Horikawa Yoko, Go Weekly Press, Tōkyō, Japan, Terra, 2290 (pages 304-345)

"The Great Lunar Blackout and Its Consequences: a treatise of the problematic survival of the moon colonies" Juntoku Yoshi, Lunar Free Press, New Kyōto, Luna, 2213 (pages 1004-1345)

"Kobayashi Futastu: Hero!" Yoshitoki Yuudai, Lunatics Press, New Kyōto, Luna, 2211

Note:

_tsuki: _ _the moon_ in Japanese

_Tsuki no Go_: The Moon's Go

~o(O)o~

_Author's note:_

_Written for the Blind Go mini-round 003: all or nothing. Beta-ed by my sister and spell checked to death.  
><em>Please review, I'd love to know what you think!<em>  
><em>


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